What a Week!

I'm sorry I don't have a Fabulous Find for you today. This has been a crazy week!

Our sweet pug Phoebe has been very sick - she's got some kind of autoimmune disorder & her body is attacking her red blood cells/platelets. She's very weak and on lots of meds.

Plus, with the crazy 70 degree days, then 30 degrees with snow, then 70 degrees...

All of our allergies are out of whack here. Our 3 year old has been suffering with so much drainage that it's finally gotten to his tummy and he's sick.

(this is one of my fave pics - taken a couple of months ago)

So in between feeding the dog her 9 pills today and running with a bucket to my son's side, I just don't have time for a Fabulous Find today.

Instead I'm wishing all of you a happy weekend & I'm looking forward to a better week next week!

And the Winner is......

Congratulations to Melissa ~ she won the giveaway!

Now, I'm not sure how all of those blogs manage to get that nice little snapshot picture of the random number generator and the winning post (I'm sure it's more advanced editing software than I have) but here's the copy and paste for you:

Ok, so apparently "paste" doesn't work on blogspot entries, so I had to choose to either wait until I got it all figured out (yeah right) or look like the technically challenged person I really am.

So here's your answer:

I used http://www.random.org/ to pick a number from 1 to 56, and it chose 11!
The 11th comment belonged to Melissa, who chose to follow my blog.

I'll be emailing her and shipping the ring out to her.

Thank you to everyone that participated & watch for a new giveaway next month!

Better Late Than Never... (Fabulous ummm..Friday)

Thanks to a beautiful day yesterday at the Zoo with my 2 favorite people (my son and my hubby, of course) my allergies kicked it up in to high gear and alas........ Fabulous Friday got delayed a bit.

But don't despair - here it is!

http://www.etsy.com/shop/reallybadkitty

This week I wanted to feature one of the amazing artists from the North Dallas Etsy team. She's more than just an active member, she's the president of the team!

Ariela and her mother make these gorgeous button bouquets, and various other pretty things made with buttons!

Check out a few of their creations:

Now, to be honest, I was a traditional bride. I had beautiful flowers, but where are they now?

They were preserved, but they're brown and withered. They're stuck in a box as a keepsake, but it's not like I'm going to set them out in the house.

Ariela's bouquets on the other hand, last so much longer! I've been lucky enough to hold a couple of her bouquets and I can tell you the quality is absolutely amazing. The time, talent and attention to detail that goes in to each and every piece she creates is phenomenal.

I highly recommend her for any non-traditional bride, but don't just take my word for it - check out her shop yourself!

Thank you Ariela for letting me use your pictures and share my thoughts on your FABULOUS Etsy shop!

Beautfiul New Beads!

So yesterday I dragged myself out of the house (my allergies are killing me this week!) and headed to the Rings & Things Bead Tour Show here in Dallas. It was my first time and I LOVED it!
I'm always hesitant to buy more expensive stones when I can't get my hands on them first, so this worked out to be a great deal for me. I could see the quality, shape and size of each bead, which really helps me visualize it in my jewelry. I ended up spending more per bead than I think I ever have, but I got great quality beads at very fair prices.
I'm hoping to sit down this weekend and spend some time creating some new pieces with these beads - I've got so many ideas running around in my head right now I'd love to see them come to life!

Beautiful Gemstones - Aquamarine, Peridot, Amethyst and Rose Quartz (watch for earrings coming soon!


Fun Aqua and Emerald Foil Glass


Really Beautiful Yellow Opal Nuggets


The most expensive of my purchases - Sterling Silver Flowers and Owls


Fun Glitz and Glamour - Midnight Blue Faceted Glass


I've been wanting to buy pearls for so long - these are beautiful Pink and White Freshwater Pearls!


And my favorite beads - I'm just always drawn to Recylced Glass. The texture, the color - they're really mesmerizing!

My First Giveaway!!!

OK, so it's not my first giveaway ever, but it is the first giveaway on my blog, so let's enjoy the moment.

aaahhh.

So here it is:

This ring was intended for my Etsy shop, but I thought it would be a great giveaway ring. It's a nice chunky stone - turquoise color (so hot this year) - size 9 (so it fits pretty much anyone even smaller hands on a first finger). It's wrapped in silver craft wire. I bought this bead as part of a mixed grab bag/destash from another Etsy seller, so I can't be 100% sure, but it's heavy like stone so I'm guessing it's magnesite, or chalk turquoise, not the fancy real turquoise (or I wouldn't give it away!).

Here's how to enter:

1) become a follower and then leave a comment saying that you follow the blog

2) go to my Etsy shop and come back here to leave a comment about your favorite item

3) become a Twitter follower (jennymjewels) and come back to leave a comment

It's that easy! Make sure to leave a comment on this post for each of the things you do - up to 3 entries per person!

IT'S IMPORTANT THAT YOU LEAVE ME A WAY TO CONTACT YOU - SPELL OUT YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS FOR ME IN AT LEAST ONE OF YOUR ENTRIES!

The giveaway will end next Sunday night, March 21st at 11:59pm my time (we're CDT here in Texas). I'll use the good 'ol random number generator and post the winner the morning of 3/22.

If you win, I'll email you for your shipping address (worldwide!)

GOOD LUCK!

It's Fabulous Friday!

This awesome Etsy shop was featured in an Etsy Finds email a couple of weeks ago and I was so impressed by her shop that I just had to share!

http://www.etsy.com/shop/OlliesBoutique

Now I see a lot of crocheted items in other shops that are cute and cool ideas, but I have to stop and think "would I really use that?" but Diana's shop has the coolest thing ever that I would definitely use!

CROCHETED SWIFFER COVERS!

What a cool idea! If you're like me and opt for the convenience of a Swiffer over a traditional broom, but HATE paying an arm and a leg for refills, this is for you!

She's got some great colors to choose from, and I personally am going to order at least 2 from her so I always have one clean when the other is dirty.

When I think about spending $6-$8 on each refill pack of disposable Swiffer pads (which we go through so fast with tile floors and a double-coated dog) I know the crocheted covers from Ollie's Boutique on Etsy will pay for themselves in just a couple of months.

Thanks to Diana for letting me feature her shop!

How It All Started...

This weekend I stopped by my parents' house for a little bit and got a glimpse into how it all started.

I had been telling my mom a few weeks ago how Matthew won't hold crayons/markers/pencils the right way yet, and that his teachers had suggested breaking his crayons in half so he's forced to hold them the right way. My mom called me into my old room and showed me a tub of crayon ends I had saved (who knows when) and thought we could use them. Then she told me "you know you have a whole tub of beads in here, too".

I had completely forgotten.

She pulled out a small margarine tub full of beads.

When I was younger (middle school maybe? 5th grade-ish?) I used to ride my bike up to Hancock Fabrics and buy seed beads with whatever money I had. I'd string them on fishing wire "borrowed" from my dad's tackle box. I was trying to make one of those beaded curtains - kind of a hippie doorway in mind. I had completely forgotten how much time I spent threading those tiny beads onto wire.

My first thoughts when she showed them to me were "great, I can sell those" and then it hit me. Why would I ever sell them? These are for me to treasure, a reminder of when my passion for beads began. I could never sell them.

Plus, they smell terrible. I'm not sure if it's the beads breaking down, or the plastic margarine tub (probably the tub) but they really stink.

So they'll live in my office with my other supplies (closed, though - don't want that funk to stink up my other beads!). They'll be a constant reminder of how it began for me and how much fun it was and how much fun it still is - every day.

FABULOUS FRIDAY!

Ok, so I'm a little late with this, blame my... well, I can't think of anything to blame it on ;-)

Here's the 2nd installment of my FABULOUS FINDS FRIDAY!

This week's featured shop is...........

(drumroll please...............)

http://www.etsy.com/shop/ajsweetsoap

I don't remember how I found Denise, but I fanned their Facebook page and I'm so glad I did!What drew me in was this:

Rock Candy Soap! I just love the idea and it looks great!

Just in time for Easter they've got some super-cute "Soapy Chicks" (get your mind out of the gutter - they're Peeps).

I just love seeing their cute, whimsical soaps and I know they take so much talent to make. After my brief interest in soap-making (2 batches of very funky-not-in-a-good-way soap) I really appreciate all of the hard work and skill that goes into making soaps that look, smell and feel good!

Thanks to Denise for letting me feature http://www.etsy.com/shop/ajsweetsoap !

One of My FAVORITE Etsy Shops!

Ok, so it's Tuesday. I know. I'ts not Friday BUT I just had to share my FABULOUS FIND .

I just love watching the front page of http://www.etsy.com/ for the featured seller. A few weeks ago Etsy featured an amazing shop that I just had to order from.

http://www.haveitconfections.etsy.com/

They make amazing caramels, marshmallows and nougat. I personally ordered their "just a taste" size of 4 different "cut your own" caramels. I tried the Belgian Chocolate Caramel, Spiced Vanilla Caramel, Marzipan Caramel, and my new best friend, the Fleur De Sel Caramel. It was all amazing and I loved that I could cut my own - a chunk or a sliver depending on my mood. I love the salty/sweet combination of their Fleur De Sel caramels ~ it was more than just eating sweets - it was a memorable experience.

Fleur De Sel Caramels & Toasted Coconut Marshmallows

I know they are still catching up from the hundreds of orders they received after being featured by Etsy, but anything you order is going to be well worth the wait. I'm not much of a marshmallow person, but I'm going to have to try those next because their caramel was unlike any I'd had before so you know they only make the best!

Off to go have a bite of Fleur De Sel - my mouth started watering the minute I started typing!